The Bigger Monster
by pkdisrupter
Summary: "The Sheriff said she needed us alive." "And I needed my mom unharmed. We don't always get what we want, do we?" Sheriff Forbes is kidnapped.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: The Bigger Monster**

**Author: pkdisrupter**

**Summary: "The Sheriff said she needed us alive." "And I needed my mom unharmed. We don't always get what we want, do we?" Sheriff Forbes is kidnapped.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything TVD.**

**Rating: M**

**A/N: The timeline here doesn't really fit the series, so we'll just call this AU.**

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Flashing blue and red lights and yellow crime scene tape greeted Caroline when she returned home from the library. Parking her car haphazardly she run to the driveway.

"What happened?" she asked the deputy who stepped forward to stop her. Searching frantically for a familiar face, scared when she couldn't find the one she was looking for. "Mom! Where's my mom?"

"Caroline..." Deputy Addison tried to calm the young woman down. "We're not sure yet what happened, but we're doing everything we can to find the Sheriff... your mother."

Her mother's patrol car was on their driveway, its door open, and was that...? Caroline's eyes narrowed as she fixed her gaze to the reddish smear just next to the patrol car. Taking a surreptitious sniff, Caroline had to suppress a gag. Blood.

Making a visible effort to calm herself down, Caroline nodded once. "So, what do you know?"

"It appears Sheriff Forbes came home for something..."

"Lunch." Swallowing a little, Caroline explained, "I was at the library, doing research for my history paper but we were supposed to have lunch together today, 'cause mom worked through all the dinners this week..."

"Did anyone know of your plans?"

"I don't think so. But, it's not like it was a secret or anything, so maybe she mentioned it to someone? I don't know."

"All right." Deputy Addison nodded, jotting down a few notes. "We got a call from Mrs. Matthews from down the road. Now, she's not positive of what she saw, her eyesight's apparently not the best, but she thinks there were two men here with the Sheriff. She saw a dark car drive away shortly afterwards, and we have a partial plate number. We're checking that right now. Would you happen to have any idea who those men might be?"

"We weren't supposed to meet anyone else for lunch." Caroline shook her head slowly. "What did the guys look like?"

"According to Mrs. Matthews, average height, average build, dark hair, and they wore suits." Addison's tone told her exactly how helpful that description was. Then again, Mrs. Matthews was seventy-eight years old and not in the best of health, so the fact that they had gotten even that much info from her was definitely better than nothing.

"Sorry, I've no idea who they could be." Caroline shrugged, feeling helpless.

Nodding, Addison gave her a small, tight smile. "That's okay. We're going to find them, and the Sheriff."

Caroline was her mother's daughter, and she knew the deputy shouldn't make promises he might not be able to keep, but she appreciated the words anyway.

"Is there someone I could call to be with you, or some place where you could stay until..." Addison asked.

"Yeah." Caroline gave him a quick nod. "I can stay at my friend's place."

"Good. Deputy O'Donnell here will escort you to the house so you can pack the things you might need for a few days." Addison motioned towards the tall brunette waiting nearby.

...

Caroline quickly packed an overnight bag while O'Donnell waited, and then hurried back to her car. She knew the Sheriff's Department would do everything they could to find her mom, but if anything supernatural was involved, they'd be in over their heads. But even if this had nothing to do with things that went bump in the night, she couldn't just sit tight and wait, she _had_ to do something. Fishing out her phone as she started the car, Caroline called the first person she thought might be able to help.

Unfortunately, all she got was a recorded message telling her that the number could not be reached. Groaning in frustration, Caroline remembered that Bonnie had gone to the lake house with Jeremy for a romantic weekend getaway. Trying Jeremy's phone next, she got the same recording. Obviously they had both turned off their phones so they wouldn't be disturbed.

Great. Now what? Bonnie was the only witch she knew, the only one who could do a locator spell to find her mother. She could drive to the lake house, of course, but that could possibly waste precious time, time her mom might not have. Staring blindly through her windshield, Caroline tried to think of who to call next. Realizing she actually had very few options, she called Stefan. He and Damon were bound to know some witches, right?

...

Stefan met her at the boarding house's entrance. Caroline could hear Damon speaking on the phone in the living room.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked, concerned.

"I'm not losing it, if that's what you're worried about." Caroline didn't think mentioning the moment she saw the blood outside her house was a good idea, because there had definitely been a moment she'd almost revealed her true face to Deputy Addison. "So, any luck, yet?"

"We're working on it."

Following Stefan to the living room, she took the drink he handed to her. Gulping down the shot of whiskey, Caroline listened in on Damon's call.

"... well, do you have any idea where she might be?"

"For all I know she could be dead, already. The old bat had to be closer to hundred the last time I saw her, and that was good twenty years ago."

"Great. Thanks for nothing." Damon finished the call with his usual finesse. Fixing his blue eyes on Caroline, he threw the phone on the couch. "What the hell happened, Blondie?"

"I told Stefan everything I know when I called."

"Which wasn't much," Damon snarked.

"Which is why I called you when I couldn't reach Bonnie," Caroline replied, trying to keep her temper in check. This was not the time to engage in not-so-witty repartee with Damon. "You two are like a gazillion years old, you must know other witches besides Bonnie."

Before Damon had a chance to antagonize Caroline any further, Stefan intervened. "You're right, we've known a few witches in our time, but we haven't really had much use for them lately, mainly because of Bonnie. And, the ones we used to know, well it's been a while and we haven't exactly kept in touch."

"Yeah, 'cause witches and vampires don't ordinarily mix," Damon added, pouring himself a drink. "One or the other usually ends up dead."

Caroline glanced at Stefan, who shrugged in agreement. "That, and witches can be a bit... finicky."

"Finicky?" Caroline arched her brow in question.

"Yeah, they think they're above us dirty vamps, so getting one to do you a favour usually takes some... persuasion," Damon explained with a grin.

Closing her eyes briefly, Caroline took a deep, calming breath. "So, do you or do you not know a witch you can get a hold of, and who'd actually be willing to help us find my mom?"

"Well, Lucinda would probably help us out if we could find her," Stefan replied.

"Is she the one Damon was talking about on the phone just now? The one you're not even sure is still alive?"

"Yes." At Caroline's look, Stefan motioned for her to let him finish. "You know witches have ways to prolong their lives, so she could very well still be alive."

"_If_ you can find her," Caroline reminded him.

"Right." Stefan sighed.

"Aren't there any other witches you could try?" Caroline looked from one brother to the other.

"Yeah, I think there are a few we know of who are definitely still alive," Damon said setting his now empty glass down. "They'll just need a little work to volunteer their help."

At Caroline's defeated look, Stefan came next to her and gave her arm a comforting squeeze. "We'll find her, with or without a witch. Or, we could just go fetch Bonnie."

"Don't you think I already considered that?" Caroline asked, frustrated. "It takes time to get to the cabin, and I thought if there was another witch we could find somewhere close by..."

"Hey, we've only just started," Stefan said calmly. "Why don't you take your stuff upstairs, and we'll make some more calls, okay?"

Shrugging, Caroline went to get her bag from the car. She was grateful for Stefan and Damon's help but it seemed the only way forward was to just take the time and go get Bonnie.

Or, was it?

Sure, the Salvatores were older than her, but then, everyone was older than her. But didn't she know someone who was truly ancient?

Her mind already made up, Caroline turned on her heel and returned to the car.

...

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"What is this infernal ruckus..." Rebekah muttered to herself as someone apparently tried to bring down their front door.

Wrenching the door open, she was rather surprised to find Caroline Forbes on the other side of it. "Oh, it's you."

Ignoring Rebekah's snide tone, Caroline asked, "Is Klaus here?"

Turning her back to the other girl, Rebekah walked back in and hollered, "Nik, your concubine's here!"

Rolling her eyes at the Original's attitude, Caroline followed her in, muttering to herself. "_So_ not the time, Rebekah."

Of course, their freaky vampire hearing ensured the other blonde heard her, just as Caroline had intended to. But before Rebekah had time to engage in another round of insults, Klaus appeared at the top of the staircase.

"Caroline. What a lovely surprise." Then, getting a better look at her face, Klaus flashed downstairs. "What's wrong?"

Looking into his eyes, Caroline could swear he actually appeared to be concerned. Of course, it didn't really matter to her as long as he was willing to help her. But it did add proof to her growing theory that he just might genuinely care for her, exactly as he claimed he did.

"I need your help."

Klaus steered her to his study while Caroline explained what had happened, and what she needed from him.

"Of course I'll help, love." As he spoke, Klaus was already scrolling through his contacts on the phone. Finding the name he was looking for, he made the call.

"Cassandra, dear. It's Klaus."

"Klaus." The voice on the other end of the call didn't exactly sound thrilled. "What do you want?"

"Now, is that any way to greet an old friend, Cassandra?" Klaus admonished lightly.

"We're not friends, Klaus. What do you want?"

Not deterred in the slightest, Klaus actually smiled at the witch's attitude. The smile, however, didn't disguise the underlying threat in his voice any. "I always did enjoy your moxie, but let's not be rude, love. And, all I want is a simple locator spell."

"That's all?" Cassandra's voice sounded distinctly suspicious.

"For now." Klaus smiled again. "So, get to Mystic Falls as soon as..."

"Klaus," Cassandra interrupted him. "I live in Santa Barbara now, it'll take a little time to arrange for a flight and to actually get there."

"Santa Barbara?"

Was that an almost growl Caroline heard in his voice? It was obvious the whereabouts of his witch were an unwelcome surprise to Klaus.

"Yes, but if a locator spell is truly all you require, my daughter still lives close to Mystic Falls. She could be there in an hour."

"Little Natalie?" Klaus frowned trying to remember the girl. "Is she competent?"

"For performing a simple locator spell? Yes. If you need something more complicated, then you'll either have to wait for me, or better yet, find someone else."

This time Klaus definitely did growl. "Just make sure she's here in one hour, not a second later. I trust I need not remind you what will happen if you fail me, Cassandra?"

"She'll be there," the witch bit out through her clenched teeth before ending the call.

Normally Caroline didn't particularly appreciate the methods Klaus used to get what he wanted, but right now she was glad he was on her side. Maybe she was being a hypocrite but with her mother's life in danger, Caroline didn't really care.

...

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"... of course I don't mind answering the door, it's not like I have anything better to do with my time..." Rebekah muttered loud enough to ensure her brother would hear her displeasure.

Throwing the door open dramatically, she revealed the two waiting Salvatore brothers. "And my day just keeps getting better and better."

"And it's good to see you, too, sunshine," Damon said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ignoring his brother, Stefan addressed Rebekah, "We're looking for Caroline, is she here?"

Rolling her eyes hard enough for it to actually hurt a little, Rebekah turned her back on them and hollered, "Nik, your pet's keepers are here!"

"See, I told you she'd be here," Damon said, satisfied to be proven right.

Sauntering inside, Damon turned to meet Klaus and Caroline who arrived to the lobby from the study.

"What are you guys doing here?" Caroline asked a little bewildered.

"What are we...?" Stefan almost sputtered. "Caroline, you left without a word."

Widening her blue eyes in sudden realization, Caroline let out a little 'oh' sound. "Stefan, I'm so sorry. I didn't even think... I only thought Klaus might be able to help and I just took off."

Shaking his head a little, Stefan was simply glad that she was all right. "Care, it's okay, I understand." He gave her a reassuring smile.

"Well, I don't," Damon exclaimed. "I told you we were handling it, there was no need to run straight to the enemy."

"Damon!" Caroline gave a quick apologetic glance towards Klaus. "Klaus is not the enemy." At Damon's incredulous look, she rolled her eyes at him and shrugged. "Well, he's not. Not with this, anyway."

Klaus' almost triumphant smile dimmed a notch at her qualifier but he didn't lose it altogether. Small steps, he reminded himself.

"Now that we've got that settled, why don't we..."

Klaus was interrupted by a timid knock on the mansion's front door.

Biting his tongue to keep from muttering a few choice words, Klaus opened the door to reveal a delicate looking young brunette.

"Natalie?" He made an educated guess. At the woman's timid nod, Klaus motioned for her to step in. "So glad you could get here at such short notice."

As if she'd actually had any choice in the matter.

"My mother said that you needed to find someone, or something?" Natalie wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible.

"Yes. My mother, she's been kidnapped." Caroline stepped forward.

Natalie's face softened at once. The blonde looked to be about Natalie's age, perhaps a few years younger, and just the thought of something happening to her own mother made Natalie feel for the young woman. Of course, this particular young woman kept company with Klaus so there was probably more to her than met the eye, but she did appear genuinely distraught.

Klaus led the party to his study, and Natalie got to work. It didn't take her very long to locate Liz Forbes.

While Caroline thanked the young witch profusely for her help, Klaus studied the maps Natalie had been using. It would take them about an hour and a half to get to where Sheriff Forbes was being kept.

He took a brief moment to glance up at Natalie. "Yes, thank you. I trust you'll have a safe trip back home."

Natalie gladly took that as her invitation to leave. Caroline walked her to the door, and thanked her once more.

As Caroline returned back to the study, Rebekah had joined the rest of the party there.

"Why wouldn't I be going?" Rebekah challenged Damon, arching her brow.

"Just never realized you were so fond of the Sheriff, sunshine." Damon smirked at her.

Shrugging nonchalantly, Rebekah twisted a strand of her golden hair around her finger. "I'm bored, and there's a decent chance of bloodshed, so I'm in."

"Since we don't know who we're up against, a little extra help won't hurt, as long as we all remember that the priority of this mission is to get Sheriff Forbes out of there unharmed." Stefan wasn't really looking forward to playing referee between Rebekah and his brother, but he also acknowledged the advantages in having another Original on their side, just in case.

...

After a brief squabble over who would ride with whom...

"I'm not going to watch Nik make googly eyes at you for an hour and a half!"

"Forget it! Too much sunshine's bad for my complexion. Why can't she ride with evil dead number one? After all, they are related."

"There are more than just these two cars we could use..."

"Well, I'm certainly not going to drive by myself!"

"We're wasting time. Just pick a car, and let's go!"

"I'm going to dagger everybody who won't shut up get in a car - any car - right now."

Caroline felt a little bad for abandoning Stefan as she and Klaus drove off, but really, it was better than risk leaving Rebekah and Damon by themselves, that would've definitely been a bloodbath waiting to happen.

...

It was late afternoon when they reached their destination. The address Natalie had pinpointed for them turned out to be a small, derelict warehouse at the edge of town. Parking the cars a little further up the street, the little group carefully made their way closer.

Sniffing the air furtively, Klaus knew they were definitely at the right place. For Caroline's sake, he hoped they weren't too late.

As if to answer him, they could all hear the sound of a fist hitting its target, and a painful grunt right after.

"Mom," Caroline breathed, at the same time afraid at what had to be happening inside, but also grateful that her mother was still obviously alive. Moving at inhuman speed, she was stopped by Stefan not a second later.

"What the hell are you doing? Let go of me!" she hissed, struggling to free herself from his grip.

"Care, stop it. I know you're worried about your mother, but we don't know who they are, so let's be smart about this," Stefan quietly reasoned with her.

Realizing that her friend was right, Caroline took a deep, calming breath and fought to regain her control.

"Well, we can be pretty sure they're not vampires or werewolves, because they definitely would've heard your ruckus if they were," Rebekah said, sounding bored.

Damon was loath to agree with her, but knew she was probably right. "Pretty sure they're not witches, either, since the locator spell worked."

Rebekah was a little disappointed that they were apparently just up against a couple of everyday humans, but then, blood was blood. Or, maybe they would turn out to be hunters or something, just to make things a little more interesting... She'd really been looking forward to some excitement.

...

Liz Forbes concentrated on trying to breathe, and to not throw up. That last punch had almost knocked her over, along with the chair she'd been tied to.

"Now, be reasonable, Sheriff. Just do Mr. Flynn this one small favour, and we can stop with the unpleasantness." Milo Disher inspected his cuticles as he spoke, fast growing weary of the stubborn Sheriff.

"Go to hell," Liz wheezed. She knew they couldn't let her live, not when she could so easily identify them later, so the only hope she had was to just try and tough it out for as long as she possibly could in the hopes that she'd be found while she was still breathing. Though right now, things weren't looking, or feeling, so good.

Sighing in mock disappointment, Milo shared a look with his associate, Gary Beckett, who'd been doing most of the hard work with the Sheriff so far. They'd been trying to persuade her to make the call that would free Mr. Flynn's wife's stupid brother, to no avail. Milo knew Mr. Flynn wanted this matter solved quickly, and he himself didn't want to spend any more time in another podunk town than he had to, but the Sheriff was proving to be more difficult than expected.

Shaking his head a little ruefully, Milo couldn't help but silently curse the idiot brother. He was supposed to have disappeared until Mr. Flynn had the chance to take care of what ever the moron had messed up. And he had, only to be apprehended by the Mystic Falls Sheriff Department on some old warrant when he'd been passing through town. The guy had the worst luck, and now he was dragging Milo down along with him.

Turning to face the battered Sheriff, Milo decided he'd been courteous for long enough. It was time to up the pressure, and then get rid of the troublesome woman. Drawing his Beretta M9, Milo motioned for Gary to move aside.

"Time's up, Sheriff. You either make the call, or we'll have to go find your lovely daughter and have this chat with her."

Milo couldn't understand why, despite the obvious pain she was in, the Sheriff looked like she was about to laugh.

...

The doors to the warehouse crashed open.

"Well, you found me. Now, let my mom go."

A motley crew led by a lithe blonde woman stormed in.

Milo and Gary had swiveled their guns towards the newcomers the moment the heavy doors to the warehouse had burst open. Eyeing the young blonde in surprise, Milo recognized her as the Sheriff's daughter. Just how the hell had she found them...? Moving his gun from the group back to the Sheriff, Milo had to give it to the kid, she had balls coming here, with a few friends, sure, but apparently unarmed. Balls, or could be that she was just as big a fool as his boss' wife's brother. Either way, unfortunately, this meant there'd be more bodies to dispose of, afterwards.

"Sorry, kid, no can do until she makes the call." He almost managed to sound sincere.

Before Milo could take another breath, there was a... blur... and then he felt fingers of steel around his neck, and something lifted him in to the air by his throat. His hand spasmed, getting ready to fire his gun, when his eyes were captured by a glacial blue gaze.

"Drop the gun."

His fingers released the Beretta before she'd finished her order.

Clawing with both hands at the arm that held him steadily, Milo felt his heart speed up impossibly with fear. What the hell was wrong with the kid's face?

"You have no idea who you're up against," he rasped through her grip.

"Wrong." Caroline smiled grimly, the veins around her eyes dark against the pale skin. "You're the one who has no idea what you're up against. No matter how big a monster your boss is, believe me, I'm worse."

"What the hell!?" Gary hadn't seen anyone move but suddenly Milo was being strangled by the blonde kid, and he didn't seem to be able to get rid of her.

Moving his own gun towards Caroline, Gary was suddenly flying through the air and crashing against a far wall.

"Caroline." The quiet voice of her mother made Caroline finally release Milo and drop him to the ground.

"Stay put," she ordered him before hurrying to her mother's side.

While Caroline had been busy with Milo, Damon and Stefan had released Liz from her bindings and helped her stand up. Liz was having trouble standing up straight and kept herself slightly hunched forward to allow her to breathe a little easier, her left eye was swollen shut and her right pinky finger was dislocated. Adding to the gruesome image was the dried blood covering her face from the nose down.

Looking at the beaten-up form of her mother, tears clouded Caroline's eyes and she felt her control slipping. "Oh, mom... what have they done to you..."

Those bastards were going to pay.

Before Liz could say another word, Caroline had turned around and flashed to the man with the bloody knuckles.

Watching Caroline lift the semi-conscious man up by his throat, Rebekah grumbled quietly underneath her breath. She wanted to have some fun, as well, but Nik was being a party pooper.

"It's her mother, love. We'll let her handle this."

"Like you handled that man when you threw him against the wall?" she asked snidely.

"As if I was going to allow him to shoot her. Really, Bekah."

Klaus kept his eyes on Caroline in rapt admiration. She was, in a word, magnificent in her true form.

"Wha... what are you?" Gary wheezed in Caroline's deathly grip, watching in horror the monstrous face before him.

"I'm the last thing you'll ever see," Caroline ground out through her clenched teeth. Dark haze slithered on the edges of her vision, as her control wavered. She wanted this bastard to suffer. He had hurt her mother, and Caroline would make him wish he'd never been born.

"Caroline, stop." Liz touched gently at her daughters shoulder. "We need them alive."

Caroline didn't release her hold on the struggling man. "No. They must pay for what they did."

"And they will," Liz promised. "But for that, I need them alive."

Finally, Caroline turned to meet her mother's eyes. "Why? After what they did to you... Look at what they've done to you," she almost wailed in anguish.

"They're human. We'll need to do this by the book." Hearing her own words, Liz amended, "As by the book as we're able to. The Sheriff's Department is looking for me. If you rip their throats out, how are we going to explain that?"

"Then we'll just shoot them, that's easy to explain," Caroline countered with a near desperate hitch in her voice. She would not, could not, just let them go!

Liz looked at her daughter's vampire face, and felt her heart almost burst at the rage and sorrow she saw there. "Caroline, no, not for me," she said gently. "You're not a murderer."

"But I am!" she cried out, finally releasing the man she'd been strangling.

Gingerly, Liz hugged her crying daughter. "No, you're not. You're my baby girl, and it's my job to take care of you, not the other way around."

Caroline tried her best not to hold her mother too tightly as she clung to her almost desperately, but as careful as Caroline was, Liz still couldn't help the hiss of pain as her cracked ribs protested at the pressure.

Releasing her mother, Caroline wiped the tears from her eyes and bit at her own wrist. "At least I can help with the pain. Here."

Liz was honestly tempted, she didn't particularly relish the pain she was in, but she had to refuse. "Honey, I can't, or we'll lose the evidence."

Caroline thought she'd endured torture before. But this, this agony was truly more than she could withstand. The feeling of utter despair was almost paralyzing, freezing her to the core, until a rage unlike she'd ever felt before burned its way through her.

Klaus watched as Caroline balled her fists tightly enough to draw blood, her whole body shaking, taking several harsh breaths in a desperate, losing battle to stay in control. The veins around her eyes returned with a vengeance. She couldn't avenge her mother and now she was forbidden to take away her pain. Caroline's eyes moved from person to person in search of... something. Finally her gaze stopped at the two strangers who had taken her mother, but that was no good. Her mother had made it clear that they would live, so she couldn't use them.

Klaus knew exactly what was happening, what she needed. After all, he'd been there many times himself. He had wiped out entire villages once upon a time in the throes of that same, all consuming need to destroy the source of his pain. The need to release all that fury and rage on somebody, anybody. But there was nobody around she could rip to pieces.

"Sweetheart." Moving closer, Klaus drew her attention to himself. "It's all right, Caroline." He spoke to her softly as if she was a spooked horse he needed to calm down. "Let me help you."

"How?" Caroline locked her dark, desperate eyes with his, her voice shaking with the effort it took to try to keep herself still. She was like a volcano, about to erupt at any second.

From the corner of his eye, Klaus saw Rebekah restrain Damon from interfering, and Stefan steadfastly steering Liz out of the warehouse. Good, Caroline would not want her mother to witness what was about to happen. Focusing on Caroline, he ignored the arguing taking place around them. "You can't take it out on them." He nodded towards the two mortal men. "And you can't take it out on them, either." He nodded towards her mother and her friends. "But you need to release it while you still have some control left, or you'll do something we both know you'll regret. So, take it out on me."

Her harsh breaths stopped as Caroline, for a moment, forgot to breathe altogether. Not daring to take her eyes off him, she shook her head. "I... I can't. You're not the one I..."

"But I'm the one you _can_ use," he interrupted her. Much as her refusal to deliberately hurt him warmed him inside, he was doing this for her, and she was running out of time. "There's not a white oak stake anywhere in sight. You won't be able to kill me, love."

Caroline's shaking was getting worse as her control was slipping away from her. The dark haze threatened to take over her vision, and she so desperately needed... something.

"Allow me to do this for you. Please."

With a tortured scream, Caroline felt the last of her resistance snap.

...

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Rebekah was honestly a little surprised, pleasantly so, that Caroline's attack didn't come in the form of scratching like a pathetic cheerleader, but instead she served a proper right hook right at Klaus' chin. Followed by fast and furious punches and kicks left and right with lightning speed. She didn't have much training, that much was obvious, and her technique was plainly lacking but she was relentless and ferocious in her advance, forcing Klaus to retreat.

Klaus could've of course restrained her at any given moment but that wasn't what Caroline needed right then so, he sidestepped some of the hits and allowed some of them to connect, but he never fought back. He had volunteered her his blood, and she was determined have it. To him she was like some glorious ancient Goddess of Death and Destruction personified in her righteous fury. Fierce. Lethal. Eternal.

Damon wasn't sure what the hell Klaus was up to, and he was definitely up to something, but this whole trip was proving to be worth it for just this chance to see Blondie beat the crap out of Original pain in the butt. It didn't even matter that Klaus was plainly allowing it to happen, 'cause hey, blood was blood, and Barbie was drawing her fair share of it. Honestly, Damon hadn't known she had it in her.

The two mortal men still rooted to the floor by compulsion looked on in horror. They were no strangers to violence themselves but this, this was the stuff of nightmares. What were these creatures? They moved almost too fast for them to be able to tell what happening, but every time the creatures slowed down the female monster had drawn more blood from the male. How could he still be standing, breathing? Any normal person would've been dead many times over by now.

Stefan overrode the Sheriff's objections at being escorted out of the warehouse, and listened to her protests dispassionately. Though he couldn't see what was happening inside the warehouse, his other senses gave him a pretty clear picture; the savage snarls mixed with grunts of pain, the sounds of fists pummeling flesh and bone, the smell of blood... So even though the Sheriff was threatening to make sure the water supply of Mystic Falls was going to be filled with vervain, he kept her far enough for her not to see or hear anything that was going on. And, Stefan was pretty sure Liz wasn't actually going to follow through on her vervain threat. Caroline was one of his best friends, and he knew her. She would not want Liz to see her like this.

The image of her mother's bloodied face swam through Caroline's mind. The deafening sound of impossibly fast heartbeats from her mother's kidnappers were the only sounds she could hear. The dark haze that had taken her over obscured Klaus' face before her and all she could see instead were the faces of those pathetic humans whose blood she craved. She would make them suffer, and then she would rip out their throats. Merely ripping out their hearts would be too quick, too merciful.

Snarling, she bared her fangs and attacked yet again. Why couldn't they at least try to fight back? It would be so much more satisfying if they'd only make the effort, however futile it might be.

At least there was blood. She could smell it all around her. But she wanted more. She wanted their screams of pain and fear. Why were they so silent? The air was definitely drenched with fear but the source of it appeared to, curiously, be behind her.

Enraged, Caroline let out a vicious growl and went for the ultimate price. Her nails tore at the bloody face in front of her, before sinking into the man's exposed neck. She yanked his head closer and with a triumphant snarl, brutally sank her teeth into the soft throat.

As soon as the familiar blood filled Caroline's mouth, the dark haze she'd allowed to take her over, gave way to reason, once more. Not being able to stop herself, she gulped down a few mouthfuls of Klaus' blood, and it most definitely was Klaus' blood she was tasting, before ever so carefully detaching her teeth from his neck.

Blinking her eyes to clear her vision, the dark veins on Caroline's face disappeared, and shortly after her clear, blue eyes met Klaus' serene gaze. His clothes were torn and his face was battered but already healing, though the blood she'd drawn was still smeared all over him.

Caroline was at a loss as to what to say to him. She felt spent, weak as a new born kitten, but also lighter, as if she could breathe again.

Lifting her hand to cup his already healed face, Caroline leaned closer to press a gentle kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"Thank you."

Her soft voice drew Klaus out of the apparent trance he'd been in, and he covered the hand resting against his face with his own. Reveling in the feel of her now soft fingers against his skin, Klaus turned his head slightly to place a gentle kiss against her palm.

"You're welcome, sweetheart."

The quiet moment was shattered by Damon who'd been watching the tender display in growing disgust. "Oh, for crap's sake, enough with the gooey stuff! What are we going to do with these two?"

Holding Caroline's gaze for a moment longer, Klaus then released her hand and turned to look at the two humans. "Well, that'll depend on Caroline." Ignoring Rebekah's huff at his words, Klaus turned back to Caroline. "What would you like to do, sweetheart?"

Slowly facing the men who had wrecked havoc to her world, Caroline felt her rage surge again, only this time it was easier to gain control over it. Taking a deep breath, she approached the sweating men, enjoying the stench of fear emanating from them.

"Can't have what I want. So, I'm open to suggestions."

"Love, there are more ways than one to make a man suffer," Klaus whispered into her ear, smiling. "Remember what you are."

These unsettling words finally made Gary speak up in protest. "You can't kill us. The Sheriff said she needed us alive."

"And I needed my mom unharmed," Caroline hissed at him. "We don't always get what we want, do we?"

"But..."

"Shut up!"

Caroline didn't even realize she'd used compulsion until Klaus smiled at her. "That is what I was talking about, love. You have the power to make them do what ever you desire."

...

By the time the local Sheriff along with the deputies from Mystic Falls arrived to the scene, Liz Forbes had her story straight and the rest of them had made themselves scarce.

Milo Disher and Gary Beckett spilled their guts as soon as Sheriff Forbes told them to start talking, even though the mere sight of her made them tremble with irrational fear. It took hours and hours for them to confess to absolutely everything they had ever done to break the law, no matter how insignificantly. And it took more time still, for them to recite every little detail they knew of their boss, Mr. Flynn.

Disher and Beckett weren't done until the early morning the next day. They couldn't stop talking even though they both knew doing so would ensure they were as good as dead. As soon as Mr. Flynn would hear of their confessions, and it would happen sooner rather than later, he'd make sure of it.

...

"Now that was a bloody waste of my time," Rebekah huffed as she and Klaus arrived back to the mansion. Then she amended her statement slightly, "Well, the part where Caroline beat you to a pulp was mildly entertaining."

Turning off the ignition, Klaus gave his sister an unconcerned grin. "Don't worry, Rebekah, you'll be getting your share of fun. Those two were just minions following orders, there's still the mysterious Mr. Flynn to take care of."

Rebekah snorted. "Why would you bother? You heard the Sheriff, they're human, and she wants their pathetic human justice to take care of it." Pausing, she gave his brother a speculative look. "Or, is this all for the benefit of the insipid Caroline?"

Unperturbed, Klaus shrugged. "I don't like lose ends."

Finally perking up a little despite herself, Rebekah smiled. "Do you have a plan, Nik?"

"Always."

...

Geraint Flynn was not pleased. What should've been simple enough a task had exploded spectacularly all over them, and there were no guarantees that he'd be able to dig himself out of this particular hole. Much as he loved his wife, he wished Vera's side of the family to the deepest pits of hell. They wouldn't be in this mess had it not been for her moronic brother who, quite frankly, deserved everything that was coming his way.

Milo Disher had worked for Geraint for eight years. And although he'd never made it to the innermost circle, for obvious reasons, he'd been both capable and loyal. He'd proven that may times over during the years. And Gary Beckett, though he'd only been within their organization for two years, had done enough to prove that he could handle himself in a tight spot. There was no way those men would've told the cops anything, let alone everything. And now, apparently, the FBI was involved.

"This reeks of compulsion."

His companion furrowed his brow at Geraint's statement. "Vampires?"

"Definitely."

"You don't think the Sheriff...?"

Geraint shook his head at the suggestion. "No, my source has already confirmed that the good Sheriff of Mystic Falls is still recovering from her injuries."

"One of the deputies, then?"

Geraint contemplated the suggestion for a moment. "Perhaps, though unlikely. But I think it's safe to assume it must be someone close to the Sheriff." Tapping a finger against his desk, he thought for a moment. "I believe we need to take a little trip to Mystic Falls before the Feds get their case together and come calling with a warrant."

"Shouldn't we rather be taking care of Disher and Beckett?"

"Probably." Geraint gave mirthless laugh. "But I'm going to see this thing in Mystic Falls through, first. I'm going to find out who ever was stupid enough to interfere with my plans, and I'm going to make them regret it." At his companion's troubled look, he continued, "Don't worry, cousin. Alma's already working on the Disher and Beckett situation. We're not finished, yet."

...

Five days later

"How's your mother doing?" Elena asked, as the three girls gathered their books for the next class.

"You know my mom, she doesn't really know what to do with downtime." Caroline checked that she had her notebook before facing her friends. "The doctor made her take a week's medical leave before she's allowed to go back for light desk duty."

Caroline still got upset whenever she thought of what had happened to her mother, but her grip on her emotions was firm and there was no danger of a meltdown. Caroline couldn't quite pinpoint in her mind what had been the last straw that had made her lose her precious control so spectacularly back at the warehouse, but she was determined that it would never happen again. She shuddered just thinking what might've happened had it not been for Klaus... Sure, Stefan and Damon would've stopped her before she could've killed anyone, but she wasn't completely convinced they would've been able to bring her out of the terrifying dark haze, unscathed.

Bonnie's voice brought Caroline back from her memories. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here, Care..."

"Bonnie, stop blaming yourself!" Caroline gave her friend a quick hug. Bonnie had apologized dozens of times already and for something that absolutely wasn't her fault. "I know you would've helped, but really, who could've seen this one coming? It had nothing to do with anything supernatural. And anyway, Klaus found us a witch, and we found my mom in time, so... it's okay, she's going to be okay." Caroline mustered a brief smile for her friend's benefit.

"Care's right, Bonnie, you have nothing to feel guilty about." Elena gave a supporting pat on Bonnie's shoulder before turning back to Caroline. "But, I still wish you'd have called me when all of that was going down."

Sighing lightly, Caroline met Elena's troubled eyes. "And, like I've told you before, there wasn't anything you could've done, either. I love you guys for wanting to help, really, but it's not like I was on my own. I had Stefan and Damon with me, and two Originals."

"Speaking of which... How an Earth did you get Klaus to help you? What made you even think of going to him?" Elena couldn't quite understand how that had come about. "You don't now owe him like, your soul, or something, do you?"

"Seriously!" Rolling her eyes, Caroline couldn't help but snort at her friend's half-serious question. "Look, I was desperate. And he came through, no questions asked." Pausing for a moment Caroline briefly debated whether or not to tell her friends everything that had happened, though she imagined that at some point either Stefan or Damon would inevitably spill the beans to Elena, but she wasn't quite ready to go for a full disclosure just yet. "He was really helpful."

At her friends' dubious looks, Caroline continued. "No, he really was. Look, I don't pretend to know why he chose to help, but he did and I, for one, am grateful. If it wasn't for him, I..." Swallowing, she shook her head briefly as if to clear it. "I'm just glad he was there."

Bonnie and Elena shared a look, now they were getting worried. Caroline hadn't really told them what had transpired that particular afternoon. She'd given them the bare facts, sure, but had pretty much glossed over any specifics. "Care, what happened there?"

Closing her locker, Caroline forced a small smile. "Guys, it's okay. I'm fine, my mom's gonna be fine, so there's really nothing more to tell."

"Caroline..." Bonnie's green eyes searched Caroline's face, troubled.

"Seriously, it's nothing." Caroline met her friend's gaze steadily. "I'll tell you guys about it one day, but not now. Okay?"

Holding Caroline's eyes for a moment longer as if she could pull the answers she wanted from there, Bonnie finally nodded slowly. Caroline had been through a traumatic experience so, it was probably just too soon for her to live through it again by telling her and Elena all about it. Though it was perfectly understandable, it didn't stop Bonnie from worrying about her friend.

"Anyway," Caroline said faux-brightly, determined to change the subject, "you haven't told us yet how your romantic weekend with Jeremy went."

Although an infinitely happier subject, now it was Bonnie's turn to try and deflect while simultaneously hiding her blushing cheeks.

...

At the same time, having left the rest of their small group to the hotel, Geraint Flynn and his cousin, Tony, enjoyed a late lunch at the Mystic Grill, accompanied by a young, sandy haired woman.

"All right, back to business, then. What have you found out, Cassie?"

"Well, the Sheriff doesn't exactly have a sparkling social life. Her work pretty much is her life, well, besides her daughter, that is." Cassie made a face to show what she thought of that sorry state of affairs. "She seems to be friends with Mayor Lockwood, but that's pretty much it. Oh, and there's one of the Salvatore brothers, the dark haired one... Damon, I've seen them talking on a couple of occasions."

"You've done a good job, Cassie." Geraint smiled. "Your father would've been proud."

"Thanks, Uncle Ger." Cassie grinned, pleased with the praise. "So, now what?"

"I think, based on what you've just told us, I should have a closer look at the Sheriff's daughter, while Tony here will check out the Sheriff's Department."

Cassie's grey eyes widened with excitement. "You think the daughter's the one? 'Cause you said before that it's probably not one of the deputies."

Smiling indulgently at his niece, Geraint gave a noncommittal shrug of his shoulders. "We won't know until we have a sniff, but she sounds like a strong candidate."

...

"Good. Keep after him, and let me know as soon as you find out where he's going." Klaus finished his call with a slight frown.

His inquiries on Mr. Flynn had revealed pretty much what he'd originally expected. Geraint Flynn appeared to be a fairly reputable business man in Savannah. He operated mostly in construction, but he had certain extracurricular activities that weren't much advertised. His inner circle appeared to be fairly tight-knit, and comprised mostly of immediate and extended family. Much what one would expect to find out of a slightly shady businessman. But there were certain whispered rumours concerning the man that had made the back of Klaus' mind tingle, which was why he'd sent one of his hybrids to follow and observe Flynn.

He hadn't expected the man to make his way to Mystic Falls.

"What's the matter, Nik?" Rebekah sauntered in to the study. "You look... constipated, actually." She grinned at him cheekily.

"Charming, as always, Bekah," Klaus answered dryly, used to his sister's antics. "Geraint Flynn is in Mystic Falls."

Arching her brow in surprise, Rebekah poured herself a drink. "Unexpected, not to mention suspicious. Do you think he's going after Sheriff Forbes, again?"

"It would be rather foolish of him, and I don't think Flynn is that stupid. But he did come here personally, for a reason."

...

Geraint Flynn and his niece watched as Caroline, Elena and Bonnie headed to their cars after school. Taking a discreet sniff as they carefully passed the three girls, Geraint nodded at his niece.

As soon as the three friends had driven off, Cassie almost jumped with excitement. "Well?"

"The stench is unmistakable," Geraint growled, his natural animosity towards vampires surfacing.

"Should we follow her now?" Cassie asked.

"No. It's still daytime and she has the advantage over us. We'll wait for nightfall before making our move," Geraint said slowly.

Frowning a little, Cassie didn't quite follow her uncle's logic. "But how are we going to get her to come to us?"

"Don't worry." Geraint smiled grimly. "It'll only take one little phone call."

...

Bonnie, Elena and Caroline headed to Bonnie's after school to study for an upcoming biology test. After hours of reading and quizzing each other, the subject inevitably moved from biology to other things.

"Have you heard from Tyler?" Elena asked, munching on an apple.

"Nope. Haven't heard from him for the past three months," Caroline said a little testily, she really didn't want to be thinking of that crappy situation.

"Caroline, he's out there trying to break the sire bond," Bonnie reminded her, trying to ease some of her friend's obvious irritation.

"I know, and it's a great reason but, honestly, lately I've been feeling like it's just a really great excuse," Caroline confessed, sighing.

Elena's gentle eyes widened at her words. "You don't mean that..."

"Maybe I do." At the look the other two girls gave her, Caroline shrugged a little helplessly. "No, I get why he's gone, and it's fine, I don't expect him to check in with me every night, or anything. But why does not being here also mean not being in _any_ kind of contact? 'Cause there are these wonderful new inventions called cell phones that could be used for, I don't know, texting every once in a while, at least. I've left him voice mail after voice mail but he's never bothered to return any of them."

"I know it can't be easy, Care, but if I understand correctly, he's in a really remote area." Bonnie tried stay positive. "Maybe there's just no coverage."

Caroline gave her a look that spelled exactly what her thoughts on that were. "Not one measly text in three effing months, Bon. I don't even know if we're still technically supposed to be dating or not."

Bonnie and Elena shared a look, they really didn't know what to say to their friend to make her feel better. And, Caroline was right, surely Tyler could've found two minutes to send her a message during these three months no matter where he was.

Taking a deep breath, Caroline pushed all thoughts of her maybe-boyfriend out of her mind. It was time to change the subject again. "So, Elena, tell us, have you made up your mind about who you're gonna choose, Stefan or Damon? 'Cause if you have trouble choosing, I could tell you who's got my vote?"

And then it was Elena's turn to groan, she really didn't want to go through this same conversation yet again. Running a hand through her long hair, she sighed. "No, I haven't made a 'choice'. You know, I really do hate this. I try so hard not be like Katherine, but here I am, driving a wedge between brothers. And I honestly don't mean to."

"We know you don't, sweetie." Bonnie gave Elena a warm hug.

"You know, maybe you should just pick a name from a hat and choose that way?" Caroline quipped with a wide grin.

Laughing, just as Caroline had intended to, Elena nodded in mock-agreement. "You know, maybe I should. Let Fate decide. Or, maybe I'll go completely off the map, and 'decide' on neither."

Still chuckling, Caroline gathered her books. "Well, at least one of us has her relationship on the right track. Bonnie, you should let us in on your secret."

Smiling happily, Bonnie bashfully played with her hair. "Yes, Jeremy and I are doing great right now. But you two know that we've had our ups and downs before we got here."

"But the important thing is that you're definitely on the upswing now." Caroline smiled, happy for her friend.

"Oh, hey, would you two have time to come with me to the boarding house?" Elena asked suddenly, noticing the time. "We're trying to plan a surprise birthday party for Ric."

"A surprise party? For Ric?" Bonnie asked, smiling. "I don't know. He doesn't really seem the type to enjoy something like that."

"Oh, we're not planning anything big, just something small and relaxed but with the whole gang," Elena explained.

"Actually, I'm supposed to meet Jeremy soon," Bonnie said, "but he didn't mention anything about this party planning thing."

Elena laughed a little when she heard this. "Yeah, we asked him to come, but he said he'd already made plans. Though, he didn't mention that the two of you were going on a date."

"I guess we could swing by..." Bonnie began slowly.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Elena said, still smiling. "I don't think we'll get any actual planning done tonight. This'll probably just be a little pre-planning thing, so that Damon can get his so called 'incredible' ideas out of his system." Elena actually used air quotes when she explained this.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but what is Damon's idea of a brilliant low-key birthday party?" Caroline inquired.

"If I understood his hints correctly, it's either to get everybody absolutely hammered, or to take Ric to a so called 'gentlemen's club'."

Bonnie and Caroline groaned simultaneously.

"I know!" Elena exclaimed in complete agreement. "That's why I need one of you to come with me tonight, so we'll have majority to overthrow his crazy ideas."

"What about Stefan? Does he agree with Damon?" Caroline asked, slightly grossed out at the idea that one of her best friends might in fact have such bad taste.

"Stefan's actually been no help at all," Elena harrumphed. "He claims he'll be happy with whatever we decide, and he refuses to take sides. Hence my need for backup."

"Sure, I'll come, but just for a little while. I promised my mom I'd be home for dinner," Caroline agreed.

...

Rebekah returned home just in time to hear something shatter against the wall, followed by loud and creative swearing.

"What did the coffee cup do?" she asked, surveying the scene in the kitchen.

Glaring at her, Klaus tried to reign in his temper. "My hybrid just informed me that Flynn has Sheriff Forbes. And, as it turns out, he's also a werewolf."

The last bit of news made him throw another dish against the wall, a saucer this time. Yes, he'd ordered his hybrid to keep his distance as he kept on eye on Flynn, but it would've been helpful to have this one piece of information sooner. What good were hybrid senses if one didn't bother to use them? Why was he surrounded by complete imbeciles?

"I knew there was something about him..." he muttered, furious. Then, collecting himself, Klaus glanced at Rebekah, his mind made up. "Come on then, let's go."

"Is it time to have my fun, then?" Rebekah asked with a delighted grin, following Klaus as he called out for the two hybrids currently on the premises to follow them.

Not bothering to answer his sister, Klaus hurried to his car, reluctantly pulling out his phone. He knew Caroline wouldn't be happy about the news and he wished he could spare her this, but he also knew that unless he let her know immediately, she'd be furious with him.

"Hello sweetheart, I'm afraid I have some bad news..."

...

"Oh, come on, it's perfectly traditional to celebrate with drinks. Lots of drinks." Damon grinned enthusiastically.

"Sure, if you're an Irish stereotype in a bad sitcom," Caroline retorted. "No, I agree with Elena. You guys can get sloshed any old day you want, this is about Ric's birthday, and it should be something special."

"Just out of curiosity, has anyone checked with Ric if he's already made plans of his own?" Stefan asked, having at last grown tired of the back and forth between the girls and his brother. "I mean, what if he just wants to spend the day with Meredith, or something?"

Surprised, Damon and Elena looked at each other expectantly.

"Damon, it was your idea to throw him a surprise party," Elena reminded him, slightly amused. "Didn't you at least try to ask if he's already made plans?"

Caroline's phone rang, taking her attention away from the staring match into which Elena and Damon appeared to be engaged. Seeing Klaus' name on the screen Caroline took a few steps aside to get an illusion of privacy, but knowing full well that both Salvatore brothers at least would be able to hear both sides of her conversation.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Hello sweetheart, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Mr. Flynn... you remember the two... beings who had your mother..."

"Yeah, not going to forget them anytime soon." Caroline clenched her phone a little tighter, though careful not to break it, she needed to hear what he had to say. "What about Flynn?"

"He's in Mystic Falls." Klaus paused for a moment, and heard her breathing hitch a little. He really just wanted to wring somebody's neck, preferably Flynn's, right about now. "He's a werewolf, and he's got your mother."

And just like that, her world crumbled to the ground, again.

For what felt like several minutes, but in reality was only a few seconds, Caroline couldn't hear anything but those last few words in endless repeat in her mind.

He's got your mother.

No. This was not happening again. They were supposed to be all human, and the human justice system was supposed to be taking care of them, making sure they'd get nowhere near her mother again.

It took her a while to realize that Klaus was talking again. With some effort, Caroline concentrated on his voice in her ear.

"My hybrid's following them as we speak so, we'll know where they're going. We'll get her back, love, I promise."

Letting out a harsh breath, she ignored the worried queries of her friends around her, and concentrated on Klaus and his promise. "Yeah, we're gonna get her back. And I want to make sure this is the last time this happens, my mom's off limits."

Objectively Caroline knew that it was impossible to keep anyone absolutely safe, but she could make sure that Flynn and his people would never get another chance to harm her mother.

"We'll make sure they learn their lesson," Klaus promised.

Caroline's phone made a beep, letting her know that she had another call waiting. Checking her screen, for a slip-second Caroline felt her knees give out.

"I have another call coming in. It's my mom."

"You know who it'll be." There was an urgency to Klaus' voice as he willed her to obey. "Listen to me sweetheart. Do not let them know you already know they have her. And do NOT go to them by yourself. He has part of his pack with him, and you'll be no help to your mother if you're dead, love. We're on our way so, you'll wait for us. Promise me, Caroline."

She switched the calls without saying a word.

...

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you for those who took the time to review, I really appreciated them. :)**

**A/N2: I haven't seen every episode of TVD and haven't watched TO at all, so I'm not sure if this has been addressed in either show, but for the purposes of this fic I'm assuming that werewolves would not be able to tell hybrids apart from regular werewolves just by smell, the way some of them can tell if a person is a vampire by just sniffing them.**

Love is a vampire's greatest weakness.

Rebekah remembered the often repeated words as she watched Klaus struggle to force his temper down after Caroline ended their call without a word.

If only Elijah could see him now, he would not question whether or not their brother had any emotions left in him.

Rebekah still wasn't sure if whatever Klaus felt for the baby vampire was actually love, or merely infatuation, but she did get a small thrill at witnessing him twisting in the throes of the one emotion he'd always scoffed at her for feeling.

Much as she disliked the other girl, and the attention Klaus afforded to her, Rebekah still half wished Caroline would keep her dear brother twisting in uncertain agony for some time to come.

Rebekah's musings were interrupted by Klaus' phone ringing.

"Talk," Klaus ordered tersely, seeing the call came from Danny, the hybrid he had following Flynn.

"They're near the old Lockwood's Well. They've started a little campfire so, I think this is where they're gonna stay," Danny whispered.

"And the Sheriff?"

"Alive. They've tied her up but it seems like they're mostly ignoring her, for now at least."

"Good. Stay there, and call me if anything changes."

Finishing the call, Klaus revved the engine, he needed to get there as fast as possible. Knowing Caroline, she might not wait to do something rash to save her mother.

-

Doing her best to keep her fear in check, Caroline forced her voice to sound chipper as she answered the call. "Hi, mom."

"Afraid not," a smooth, even voice came in reply. "I'm Geraint Flynn. I believe you've heard of me, Miss Forbes?"

"What are you doing with my mom's phone? Where's my mom?" Caroline demanded, dropping the chipperness.

"Ah, I'll take that as a yes." There was definitely a pleased smile in Flynn's voice. "The Sheriff is... unavailable, at the moment. But, if you'll come to the Lockwood's Well, I believe this place is called, you can see her for yourself."

Snorting, Caroline resisted the urge to hurl her phone against the wall. "I'm not going anywhere until I hear my mother."

Sighing, Flynn shook his head in mock exasperation. Moving closer to the tied up Sheriff, he gestured for Tony to remove the cloth gagging her mouth and then motioned for her to talk to her daughter.

"Caroline, don't come here. They're wer..."

Tony gagged Liz before she could finish her warning.

"I trust that was enough to prove to you that she's actually here?" Flynn asked Caroline.

Squeezing her eyes shut in a futile effort not to picture what was happening to her mother, Caroline wanted to tear Flynn apart, limb from limb. "I'll be there," she ground out before ending the call.

For a full second after Caroline finished the call everything was silent, and then her friends were upon her with their questions. Stefan and Damon were, of course, fully up to speed already, but Elena wanted to know exactly what was going on.

Explaining the situation to them as quickly and briefly as she could, Caroline picked up her jacket and slipped it on.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going, Blondie?" Damon stopped her.

"Where do you think?" The 'duh!' was clearly implied.

"Not by yourself, you're not." Stefan stepped closer, for once in complete agreement with his brother.

"I won't be on my own, Klaus is on his way there."

"So, you're going to wait for him, then?" Stefan arched his brow knowingly.

"Right." Damon smirked. "We're going with you."

"I'm coming, too," Elena declared.

Smiling a little wobbly, Caroline hugged Elena in gratitude. "You don't know how much I appreciate the offer but, you can't." As Elena started to protest, Caroline interrupted her, "They're werewolves, and if you haven't noticed yet, tonight's a full moon."

"But, I want to help." Realistically, Elena knew there wasn't much she could do, but damn it, everybody was always putting themselves in danger to save her butt, and she wanted to be able to return the favour, for once.

"Caroline's right," Stefan said. "It's too dangerous for you."

Before Elena had a chance to protest any further, Damon interrupted them. "Doesn't it strike anyone else as odd that Klaus knew about this before Caroline got the call from Flynn?"

"Not really." Caroline shrugged unconcerned. "After the last time, Klaus mentioned something about checking Flynn out. Guess he did just that. Honestly, I don't really care right now. Look, we're wasting time, I gotta go."

"And I said you're not going there alone." Damon grabbed her by the arm.

Yanking her arm free, Caroline gave him a stare that would've frozen a lesser being. "Then you better start moving, because I'm leaving."

Damon figured he'd bought Klaus at least some time to get his ass to the Lockwood's Well, or close enough. Damon had been bitten by werewolves enough times to not want to go through it again, if he could help it. But, if it did happen again, he wanted to have Klaus close enough for a small, healing donation.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

-

The night had fallen by the time Caroline and the Salvatores met up with Danny. And, just a few moments later, Klaus and Rebekah arrived with Mindy and Nate, the other two hybrids, in tow.

Klaus looked Caroline over quickly, glad to see that she was clearly on top of her game. She was angry and itching for a fight, understandably, but definitely in control.

"Do we have a plan?" Mindy asked Klaus in hushed tones.

Before Klaus had a chance to answer her, Damon whispered as if it was obvious without asking, "Yeah, we go there, get Liz and kick ass."

"So glad we have Mr. Strategist on our side." Rebekah rolled her eyes at Damon.

Klaus ignored their bickering. "Caroline, you'll get your mother. Damon and Stefan, you make sure they get out of here in one piece, and the rest of us will take care of the pack."

Without waiting for anyone's response, Klaus marched forward, leaving them no other option but to follow him.

-

Flynn could hear the pack approaching them before he saw them. They weren't trying to be stealthy, but they did move in silence. And when they appeared from the forest, fanned out in a wide formation, Flynn had no problem identifying the alpha.

Noticing that the arrivals all appeared to be fairly young, he briefly wondered how they managed to resist the full moon's demand when three of his own pack had already had to shift in to their wolf forms, and a fourth would not be able to fight it for much longer.

Narrowing his eyes, Flynn shifted his attention to Caroline Forbes for a moment. He'd hoped that she would've been a lone vampire in Mystic Falls, but he had prepared for her to show here with back up. Of course, that some of her reinforcements were wolves, was a somewhat troubling surprise.

"I was unaware there was a wolf pack in Mystic Falls," Flynn addressed Klaus. It wasn't considered polite to trespass on another pack's territory. Unless of course, one pack was about to overtake the other's territory, which wasn't the case here. "I'm Geraint Flynn. But then, you're already aware of that." He glanced briefly at Caroline who, after a quick look towards her mother to make sure she was unharmed, had kept her eyes trained on Flynn.

"Klaus." The obvious lack of recognition at his introduction made Klaus sigh inwardly. It would've been so much more... inspiring to get a reaction, but then surprising one's adversary could also prove satisfying.

Watching the small group, Flynn made a show of sniffing the air. "Your choice of company is... curious, shall we say."

Smiling, Klaus shrugged nonchalantly. "Keeps us all on our toes."

"The stench doesn't bother you? Or are you just too young to be able to sniff them out, yet?" Flynn asked, making a not so subtle point of who was the more senior alpha.

Klaus' smile grew wider as he clasped his hands behind his back. "Careful there, mate. You're so used to being the big fish in your tiny pond, you forget the world is full of bigger monsters than yourself."

"And I take it, you're one of them?" The condescension dripped off Flynn's words.

"Oh, I'm the biggest monster there is." Klaus dropped his faux-smile. "I'm going to put this in terms even you're able to understand, mate. They are all part of my pack."

Flynn looked like he was about to gag at such blasphemy.

"And so's the Sheriff. So, I'll have her back now. Sister, I believe it's time for your fun."

"That abomination is your sister?!" Flynn growled, outraged.

While Flynn was still frothing at the mouth, Rebekah had flashed forward and ripped out the heart of the man guarding Liz Forbes.

It seemed like a deafening silence filled the forest for a small eternity after Rebekah dropped the wolf's heart to the ground. In reality, it wasn't even a second later when all pandemonium broke loose.

Flynn and Tony simultaneously pulled out and fired their guns at Rebekah, expecting her to be immediately incapacitated by the vervain drenched wooden bullets. Much to their horror, the bullets didn't do much to slow her, despite her obvious discomfort. But, there was no time to ponder how the vampire was able to still function.

Rebekah was attacked by two members of the pack already in wolf form, while Flynn and Tony turned their attention to Caroline who was busy freeing her mother.

Just as Caroline was getting the gag off Liz, she saw Tony raise his gun. Quickly shifting her position so she was shielding her mother, Caroline screamed when the bullets entered her back. Caroline's scream was mingled with Tony's grunts of pain as he quickly shifted into his wolf form.

"Stefan! Get her out of here." Caroline's pain filled eyes found her friend in the middle of the melee.

Stefan had seen what had happened and was already on his way to help Caroline and Liz to get away, when a third wolf came at him.

Seeing his brother under attack made Damon change course to help him. Tearing the wolf off Stefan before it had a change to bite him, Damon threw the wolf as far as he could manage, crashing it against a tree. Not wasting any time the brothers flashed to Caroline.

"Stefan, take Liz and get the hell out of here," Damon ordered almost shoving the Sheriff at Stefan. "I'll get Caroline."

Lifting Liz in a fireman's carry Stefan flashed away as fast as he was able to, trusting Damon to follow with Caroline. Stefan pushed himself to go even faster when he heard the unmistakable growl of a wolf nearing them. He knew he could not outrun the wolf, especially while carrying Liz, and briefly considered climbing them both up a tree, when he heard the sounds of someone tackling the wolf behind them. Hazarding a quick glance to check the situation, Stefan saw Danny wrestling with a sandy colored wolf. He did not see Damon or Caroline. After a second's indecision, Stefan continued running forward. He had to get Liz to safety before he could go back.

Before Damon was able to get Caroline, the wolf he'd thrown was back with a vengeance. Growling and snapping it's teeth the beast attacked, pushing Damon to the ground. Crawling closer to help him, Caroline was suddenly pushed aside as Mindy jumped at the wolf, tearing it away from Damon.

Flynn looked wildly around himself, not appreciating how his pack was taking a beating, despite the full moon. As Flynn could feel himself transforming, at last surrendering to the moon, he still wondered how the other pack could hold on to their human forms. Then, all that was left was his instinct to tear the enemy apart.

-

Klaus flashed to pull one of the wolves off his sister. Plunging his hand through the creature's back, he pulled off its heart. Trusting Rebekah to handle the other wolf he turned around just in time to see Caroline get shot.

Enraged, Klaus charged at Tony's wolf. Grabbing the wolf by the throat, Klaus considered simply ripping it's heart out, but that would be too quick, and tonight Klaus didn't feel particularly merciful. Instead, he sank his teeth into the wolf's neck and tore at it, careful to inflict pain but not to kill just yet. Tossing the beast away he then allowed it to charge at him again, and again, the beast getting close but never quite allowed to reach Klaus with its teeth.

From the corner of his eye Klaus observed Nate struggling with Flynn's wolf, trying to keep it from getting to Caroline as Mindy was dragging an evidently wounded Damon out of the way. Briefly wondering where Rebekah was, Klaus saw her appear behind the wolf he was toying with and grab it in her steely grip.

"Having trouble putting down the dog, Nik?"

Growling at her for interrupting his game, Klaus was about to answer when he saw Flynn's wolf take down Nate and leap at Caroline. Without another thought, Klaus streaked after Flynn, leaving Tony to Rebekah's tender care.

With a feral smile, Rebekah released the fiercely struggling wolf from her grip. Quicker than a blink of an eye the wolf whipped around to face her and jumped at her with its teeth bared, aiming for her throat. Still smiling, Rebekah revealed her own set of teeth and sank them into the wolf. Relishing in the blood despite the mouthful of fur, she ripped into the beast with her teeth, and finally tore at its artery, spraying the warm blood around.

Caroline struggled to get up on her knees as she saw a reddish-grey wolf rush at her. Bearing her teeth, she knew she had no chance of actually fighting the wolf off. The wooden bullets in her back were excruciating and she was afraid to move too much since it felt as if at least one of them was frighteningly close to her heart. Still, it would be better to go down fighting than to simply lie down and wait for the inevitable.

The wolf got almost close enough to try to take a bite off her before it was suddenly yanked away. Surprised, Caroline's dark eyes met Klaus' glowing gaze for a brief moment before he faced the ferocious wolf.

It was time to end the game.

Flynn, even in wolf form, was no match for the Original Hybrid. Klaus wanted to draw out the wolf's suffering but that would've meant drawing out Caroline's suffering, as well, so he made the end as brutal as he could with the short amount of time he allowed himself for it.

Taking a look around the small clearing, Klaus smiled grimly at the carnage. Flynn's end had been far too quick and easy to fully satisfy Klaus, but at least the Savannah pack, the part of it that had arrived to Mystic Falls, was finished.

His side had fared much better, but they had not escaped unscathed. Danny and Mindy had sustained several injuries but were already on the mend, while Nate was temporarily out for the count since Flynn had broken his neck. Rebekah had already healed from what ever minor injuries she'd endured, as she'd managed to dig out the wooden bullets from her arm. Klaus himself wasn't even out of breath from the events. So, it appeared the ones most severely hurt were Damon and Caroline.

Ignoring whatever was wrong with Damon, Klaus hurried to Caroline's slumped down form. Propping her carefully against his arm, Klaus took in her wounds. The smell of her blood filled the air, as it still flowed down her back.

Cursing silently as Caroline whimpered in pain, Klaus smoothed down her hair, trying to soothe her. "It'll be all right, sweetheart. We'll get the bullets out and you'll be fine. I promise."

Caroline swallowed with difficulty, and tried to blink away her tears. "It hurts pretty bad. I... I think one of them might be close to my heart."

Klaus really wanted to get her to the mansion where he'd have better equipment at hand to handle this, but he didn't dare to move her around too much, especially if the bullet was anywhere near her much too fragile heart.

"Would anyone happen to have a knife, or any kind of blade, with them?" he asked, looking up from Caroline.

"Here." Danny pulled out a Swiss Army knife from his jacket pocket, and tossed it to Klaus. He'd gotten the knife from his father when he'd turned ten years old, and his father had told him about his wolf heritage. He'd carried the knife with him ever since.

Selecting the blade, Klaus looked back at Caroline. "Are you on vervain, love?"

Realising why he was asking, Caroline almost wished she could say no. It was going to hurt, but considering everything she'd been through since she'd become a vampire, she'd probably survived much worse.

Meeting his eyes steadily, Caroline nodded. "Just do it."

Helping her to lean forward, Klaus removed her jacket and lifted her shirt to expose the bullet holes.

"I'll be as quick as I can," he promised softly. Then, glancing up, he spotted his sister. "Rebekah. Come and hold her still."

As soon as Rebekah got Caroline in a bruising grip, Klaus got to work. The first bullet was out in a matter of seconds since it hadn't gone very deep. But the second one, that was indeed embedded close to Caroline's heart. Closing his ears against Caroline's muffled cries of pain, Klaus cut deeper, probing the wound. Being careful not to push the bullet any deeper, it seemed to take ages before he was able to dig it out of her. Throwing the bullet away, he gestured for Rebekah to release her hold and offered Caroline his wrist.

"Have at it, sweetheart."

With a sigh of relief, Caroline grabbed his arm and sank in her teeth. His blood tasted so good, and she noticed its effects almost immediately. The pain left her and she could feel her strength return. Closing her eyes Caroline relished the effects of blood, and the undeniable feeling of safety that enveloped her.

Finally, Caroline slowed down, and removed her fangs gingerly. She felt sated, warm, and just a little bit drowsy, in a good way.

"Thank you." She smiled up at Klaus who still had her in his arms.

"My pleasure, love."

Caroline almost blushed at the intimate tone of his voice. Licking at her lips, she averted her eyes, and was only then reminded that they were not, in fact, alone.

"Right. Now that you two got the foreplay out of the way, I could use a little drink, too, buddy," Damon quipped wearily, obviously in pain.

"Damon!" Caroline pushed herself up and hurried to check on him. "Did you get bitten?"

"Just a little." Damon tried to give her his cocky grin but it failed miserably. "Nothing a little drink from the right source won't fix."

Ordering Danny, Mindy and the reawakened Nate to begin the clean up process to get rid of the bodies, Klaus ambled over to Damon and Caroline.

Looking Damon up and down with a critical eye, Klaus hauled him up. "Sorry, mate, got to refuel a bit before donating again so soon. But you'll live until we get back to town."

Giving Klaus a murderous look, Damon swayed a little on his feet. "And here I thought I was part of your pack. Mate."

"Where's your sense of drama, Damon? Even you have got to agree that it was a nice touch, at the time." Smiling benevolently, Klaus clapped Damon on his back, almost toppling him over.

Caroline would've preferred Klaus to help Damon right away, but she didn't want to waste time with them arguing about it. She wanted to get to her mother to make sure that she was unharmed, and as sickly as Damon appeared, she knew he wasn't in immediate danger, either.

Helping to steady Damon, Caroline decided to put an end to their meaningless posturing. "Okay guys, enough male bonding for one evening. The sooner we get back, the sooner you can take care of Damon."

-

They had called ahead, and let Stefan know that they were on their way back. Arriving to the boarding house, Caroline hurried straight to her mother.

"Caroline! Are you all right?" Liz took the time to inspect her daughter for any injuries before hugging her as tightly as her sore ribs allowed. She'd seen Caroline get shot but evidently she'd already completely healed. This wasn't the first time Liz was glad of vampire healing properties.

Relieved beyond belief that her mother appeared to be unharmed, Caroline hugged her back as fiercely as she dared. "I think that's my question, mom. They didn't hurt you, right?"

"No, I'm fine," Liz assured, finally releasing her. "They nabbed me while I was returning from the grocery store so, I lost the groceries but other than that..."

"Mom, I'll raid someone's fridge if it'll make you feel better. Just as long as you really are all right." Caroline laughed, glad that this time hadn't been a repeat of the warehouse incident.

"Damon!" Elena hurried to help settle him down on the couch. "What happened?"

"What do you think happened?" Rebekah asked snidely. Honestly, they'd gone to kill werewolves so, how hard was it to deduce what had happened to him?

Sending a glare at Rebekah, Elena then gently brushed a sweaty strand of hair off Damon's forehead. "I meant, why aren't you healed, yet?"

"Because I felt the need to refuel, first," Klaus explained, pouring himself a drink.

Looking between the two men, Elena knew there had to be more to this story. Or maybe Klaus was just being himself. She only hoped that Damon hadn't put his foot into his mouth again, and that Klaus wouldn't wait for much longer to give Damon his blood.

Throwing back his drink, Klaus then bit into his wrist and let a small amount of his blood to fall into the now empty glass.

"Here you go, mate." He offered the glass to Damon with a satisfied smile.

Damon really wished he could afford to throw the glass back at Klaus' smug face, but beggars couldn't be choosers so, he took it.

"Bottoms up."

As Elena helped Damon settle down to rest, Stefan walked over to Klaus. There were still a few lose ends that needed to be addressed. "Is it finished?"

Klaus knew exactly what Stefan was referring to. "Yes."

"What about the bodies? They can't be found anywhere near Mystic Falls."

Klaus clapped his one time friend on the shoulder. "There won't be anything left to find. Don't worry, rippah. I know how to make bodies disappear."

"What about the rest of his pack?" Caroline asked, frowning a little in thought. "He was the alpha, won't they come looking for him?"

Klaus turned to Caroline, smiling. "There are ways to make fake trails for them to follow. A few text messages from their phones, credit card purchases away from Mystic Falls, and we'll make sure to dump their cars somewhere far enough from here. It'll look as if they merely passed through here."

Listening to Klaus' explanation, Liz nodded in agreement. With judiciously applied complusion thrown in for good measure, it all sounded simple enough, and more importantly, plausible. She just hoped they'd seen the last of the Savannah pack.

"And what if they come here anyway?" Caroline asked, biting her lip.

"Then we'll take care of it," Klaus promised.

-

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The next day found Caroline knocking rather more politely at the door of the Mikaelson Mansion. And, as luck would have it, Rebekah was once more the one opening the door.

"You again. And what brings you here this time?" Rebekah asked with a fake smile, before muttering to herself, "As if I don't know."

Just as Caroline opened her mouth to answer her, Rebekah rolled her eyes, and motioned for her to step in. "He's upstairs in his studio."

"Thanks." Caroline gave her a quick smile and headed towards the staircase.

Before she reached the first step, however, Caroline suddenly swirled around. "Wait!"

Pausing, Rebekah turned face her. "What is it, now?"

"I just wanted to thank you," Caroline said seriously. "I realized that I never got around to it for last night or, you know, for before. You had no reason to help save my mom, but you did anyway so, thank you, Rebekah."

Rebekah studied Caroline's face, looking for any kind of deception, but found only sincerity. Finally, she shrugged casually. "I was bored, and had nothing better to do."

Smiling, Caroline saw right through her. "Well, thanks just the same."

Continuing her way upstairs, Caroline missed the slow smile spreading on Rebekah's face. Turning around to make her way to the study, Rebekah flipped her long hair, feeling... lighter, somehow. Then she snorted and ordered herself to get a grip. Perhaps today was a good time to marathon Vikings and laugh at all the inaccuracies, or something.

-

Caroline knew Klaus had already heard her coming along the corridor, but she still rapped lightly on the door frame to announce herself before entering his studio.

"Hope I'm not disturbing?" she asked, looking around curiously. She'd never been to his studio before.

"Of course not, sweetheart." Klaus turned to her, smiling, and set down his brush. "What can I do for you?"

A little embarrassed by his question, Caroline suddenly realized that she usually DID come to him only when she needed something from him.

Blushing a little, Caroline shook her head slightly. "Nothing. I mean, I didn't come here to..." Pausing, she took a calming breath before continuing, "I came here to thank you. For saving my mom. Twice."

"You're welcome, sweetheart." Klaus' blue eyes gazed at her warmly, pleased that she'd come, even if it wasn't necessary.

"I know just saying 'thank you' isn't really enough so, if there's something I..."

Shaking his head a little ruefully, Klaus interrupted her. "I hope you know me better than that, love. I didn't help you so I could get something from you. You owe me nothing, Caroline, you or your mother."

And that, right there, was what gave Caroline pause. Again. This hadn't been some cheap ploy to get her to flirt with him, or to get her to 'take a chance'. She knew he meant every word, that he truly didn't expect anything in return. He'd done it all simply... for her.

Meeting his eyes in understanding, Caroline gave a small nod. "Thank you."

After a brief pause, Klaus turned back to his canvas, fully expecting Caroline to leave now that her business here had been concluded. So, he was somewhat surprised when, instead of heading to the door, she stepped closer to peer past his shoulder.

"What are you working on?" Caroline asked softly, and a little nervously, looking at the charming landscape he'd created.

"It's a villa in Florence."

"That place really exists?" Caroline asked surprised.

Amused, Klaus glanced at her awestruck expression. "It's actually one of Elijah's properties. It's been a few decades since the last time I visited, but this is how I remember it."

"It's beautiful." Caroline's voice was a little wistful.

"Perhaps one day you'll have a chance to see it for yourself."

Klaus wasn't sure why she'd chosen to stay and spend more time with him, willingly, but wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Glancing at him, Caroline got caught on the look in his blue eyes. She was suddenly reminded of his speech about the wonders of the world she'd yet to see, the beauty of the world waiting to be discovered.

"Perhaps."

With a soft smile, Caroline turned her eyes back to the painting. "Tell me more about the villa."

The End


End file.
